


beyond the victory road

by aominedaikis



Series: nine times nine [2]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: M/M, Pokemon AU, potentially a study in the frustrations of growing up and the satisfaction of getting there, some appearances by Ginjima Hitoshi, some appearances by Miya Osamu
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-16
Updated: 2020-07-16
Packaged: 2021-03-04 20:55:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,790
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25282726
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aominedaikis/pseuds/aominedaikis
Summary: “Hey, Rin,” Atsumu starts. He’s smiling now. “I’ve decided that I’m gonna keep bein’ Champion until you can beat me. Take as long as ya need, ‘cause I’m not goin’ anywhere.”Rintarou believes him.or, the story where miya atsumu and suna rintarou take on the hoenn league separately but somehow always end up back in slateport city together.
Relationships: Miya Atsumu/Suna Rintarou
Series: nine times nine [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1831675
Comments: 6
Kudos: 66





	beyond the victory road

**Author's Note:**

> several notes:
> 
> 1\. i took liberties with changing up some of the canon facts in the pokemon universe, such as when people can start undertaking the league. i know that the pokemon games have main characters traveling alone at like, ten or eleven, but that didn't feel realistic to me, so in this work the characters are all ( just barely ) adults when they first start the league.
> 
> 2\. the miya twins, suna and ginjima are all childhood friends of sorts in this one. i didn't explicitly mention it in the fic, but i imagine the miyas and ginjima to be native to hoenn ( i know that canonically the kansai region is johto, but i'm more familiar with hoenn than johto, so... [vaguely waves hand] ), meanwhile suna was born in kanto but moved to hoenn with his family, a la pokemon protagonists moving to a new region.
> 
> that being said, if you read this fic, enjoy!

_1._

Nobody is surprised when they all run into each other in Slateport City for the first time. It’s been almost a month since they all went their separate ways, after that last time they saw each other at Oldale Town.

Still, the four of them crowd in front of the Pokémon Center and stare down one another. Atsumu’s the first to snap out of it.

He jabs a finger at Osamu. “Battle me,” he says. It’s not a request.

There’s the same stubborn determination in Atsumu’s eyes when he stares his twin down, but something about his feral grin seems different. More confident, somehow.

Maybe this is what growing up is, Rintarou thinks.

He watches Osamu smirk, already palming and tossing a Poké Ball. The Stone Badge pinned to his chest is unmissable. Atsumu has an identical one on his jacket.

Osamu says, “Alright, I’ll take ya on. Two-on-two?”

Both Rintarou and Ginjima turn their heads simultaneously. Ginjima opens his mouth in protest, but Osamu is already saying, “I’m takin’ Ginjima. Yer with Suna.”

Rintarou shares a glance with Ginjima. Ginjima shrugs. It almost sounds like an apology for leaving him with Atsumu, even though it’s not Ginjima’s fault that Osamu called dibs.

Atsumu beckons him closer. “Ya heard ‘Samu,” he says. “Yer with me, Rin.”

Atsumu’s Treecko is already out of its Poké Ball, perched on his shoulder. They both look ready for battle.

Rintarou throws his own Poké Ball. His Torchic jumps out. Opposite of them, Osamu’s Mudkip and Ginjima’s Poochyena take on their battle stances.

He doesn’t really have a choice but to say yes.

_2._

The Oceanic Museum, as its name very clearly suggests, is a museum for all things related to the ocean.

The Oceanic Museum, as its name may _not_ as clearly suggest, is also not as interesting as people make it out to be.

But Professor Birch’s words echo in Rintarou’s mind. _You’re not going to get better if you’re not open to learning new things. Widen your horizons. That’s why you’re undertaking the Hoenn League, right?_

Wise words, and an even wiser parting advice from when he saw the four of them off.

So, the Oceanic Museum it is.

Rintarou’s two seconds away from giving up trying to figure out what a model of the S.S. Anne can teach him when someone calls out, “Rin?” It sounds a lot like Osamu. Except Osamu calls him Suna, and the only person out of his family who calls him Rin is…

“Atsumu,” Rintarou says, without turning around.

He feels more than sees Atsumu settle in next to him. Atsumu peers at the glass case, studying the S.S. Anne replica. Then, he says, “What’re ya staring at this for? It’s not a Pokémon.”

Rintarou snorts. “Really?” he asks, sarcasm dripping from his tongue. “Looks like one to me.”

Atsumu elbows him. “Yer not gonna get smarter just because yer spendin’ more time starin’, y’know,” he points out. Rintarou hates that he’s right.

“Well, what’d you suggest I do then, genius?”

Atsumu fixes his gaze on Rintarou. Rintarou has no choice but to meet his eyes. Atsumu says, “Whatever it is that ya do best. You’re Suna Rintarou. You’ll figure it out.”

“That’s not very helpful,” Rintarou says. He doesn’t resist the urge to roll his eyes.

“It is when yer mopin’ yer Rustboro Gym loss,” Atsumu shoots back. Rintarou doesn’t point out that he’s lost at least _three_ times now. It’s not exactly motivating. “Go catch a water Pokémon or somethin’. Stop starin’ at the fake ship.”

“You say that like it’s easy.” Rintarou’s not the model fisher or swimmer.

Atsumu smirks. “It is when you’re you.”

_3._

There’s a lot to do in Slateport. It has a market, hosts Hyper Rank contests, and the beach _does_ have its appeal.

But for one reason or another, —namely Miya Atsumu—it’s the Name Rater’s house that Rintarou finds himself in.

“I hate you,” he mutters, low enough so that only Atsumu can hear him.

The Name Rater asks them if there’s a Pokémon they want him to look at before Atsumu can respond.

Rintarou shrugs. He’s only here because of Atsumu.

Atsumu says, “I got a whole team for ya to look at.”

“What?”

Atsumu elbows his side. This feels familiar. “Shut up, Rin.” He pauses, then, “Could use some lucky names or somethin’ for my team. Boost my chances of beatin’ this damn league.”

Rintarou frowns. It’s not like Atsumu to need luck. He tells Atsumu this.

The Name Rater nods. “Your friend’s right,” he says, to Atsumu. “A name only has as much power as you give it. Put your trust in your Pokémons, not in their names.”

Atsumu looks a little stunned. This time, it’s Rintarou who elbows him. “What was it you said?” he asks. “Do whatever it is you do best? Take your own advice. You don’t need luck.”

Then, for good measure, Rintarou turns to the Name Rater and adds, “Hey. I got a question. Is Atsumu a good name for my Raichu?”

 _That_ gets Atsumu to snap out of it. He glowers at Rintarou. “Say that again and I’m namin’ the next Skitty I capture after ya.”

Rintarou laughs. Even the Name Rater cracks a smile. “Whatever. I’d make a pretty good Skitty.”

_4._

Atsumu’s third try at Flannery’s gym coincides with Rintarou’s first one. They both come out of it with the Heat Badge pinned onto their jackets.

Atsumu turns to him, then says, “Wanna go celebrate?”

They end up in Slateport again.

It’s a nice day to be out. The cool breeze greeting Rintarou as he and Atsumu walk into Slateport’s bustling market is a change from Lavaridge’s quiet and warm hot spring town.

Atsumu makes a beeline for the dolls vendor. He points at a Skitty doll. “Want me to buy ya one?” he asks Rintarou. “It looks like ya.”

Rintarou raises his brows at Atsumu. Atsumu hasn’t stopped making the Skitty comparisons since that day at the Name Rater’s house. Atsumu says it’s _cute_.

Rintarou’s not entirely sure what he makes of it.

“This isn’t what I was thinking of when you said celebrate,” he tells Atsumu. “Buy me a drink.”

All that does is get Atsumu’s lips to curl up. He looks irritating with that grin. Or maybe Rintarou’s just irritated because he can’t look away from it. He rolls his eyes at Atsumu.

“I’m tryin’ to buy ya a gift here, Rin,” Atsumu whines. He slings an arm around Rintarou’s shoulders. Rintarou lets him. “How ‘bout this? I’ll buy ya this cute ‘lil Skitty, and ya can get me something in return. Then we can exchange gifts! _Then_ we’ll get drinks.”

Rintarou snorts. It seems like an excessive celebration for only their fourth gym badge. They’ve both still got ways to go.

But this is Atsumu, so he says, “Okay.”

_5._

Atsumu meets him just outside of the Contest Hall after the contest ends.

He claps Rintarou on the back. “Knew ya could do it, Rin!” he exclaims, sounding more excited than even Rintarou is feeling.

Something akin to a smile touches Rintarou’s lips. “I wouldn’t have entered if I didn’t think I’d win,” he tells Atsumu.

Atsumu laughs. There’s a nice touch to it that Rintarou has never noticed before.

“Don’t be like that,” Atsumu says, flicking the tips of Rintarou’s hair. “Ya didn’t know contests were yer thing until ya won yer first few.”

He shrugs. It’s true enough.

Here’s the thing: He’s always known that Atsumu has a one-track mind when it comes to beating the Hoenn League. Rintarou knows this the same way he knows that Osamu’s greatest motivation when it comes to the League is traveling, the same way he knows that Ginjima is completing his Pokédex because he wants to make his father proud.

Here’s the other thing: Rintarou’s also always known that he hasn’t really figured out what’s in it for him, other than for the fact that the four of them had been in Ginjima’s room one day and Rintarou had said, _Sure, why not?_

They’d gone to get their own partner Pokémons the next day, and Atsumu had annoyed him enough that Rintarou had promised that he’d see this through so that he could beat Atsumu.

Atsumu had grinned, back then. A challenge to light his fire.

“I’m takin’ on the Victory Road next,” Atsumu is saying now.

“I know,” Rintarou replies.

“Are ya comin’?” Atsumu asks.

He could. Rintarou got his last badge a few days ago, which means that he could take on the Victory Road with Atsumu if he wanted to.

He wonders what it’ll feel like, high on adrenaline next to Atsumu. Arm in arm with Atsumu.

Rintarou’s not sure if he’s ready for that.

“Nah,” he says, finally. “Think I’ll stay for a while.”

_6._

“You do know that Ever Grande has a Pokémon Center, right?”

They’re in the Slateport Pokémon Center, sitting side by side. Nurse Joy has Atsumu’s Pokémons, safely tucked into their Poké Balls, and is working whatever magic she has on them. Atsumu won’t stop looking at the counter.

Rintarou knocks his knee against Atsumu’s. “They’ll be fine,” he says. “You look worse than they are.” He has no idea why he’s comforting Atsumu. It’s not like he’s doing a good job at it.

Atsumu turns to look at him. “I know,” Atsumu replies. “I’m not worried.” Rintarou doesn’t miss how his comment about Atsumu’s own state goes ignored.

“Liar,” Rintarou says. “You’ve never had your team wiped out like that.”

“How’d ya know that?”

“You wouldn’t be taking it this hard if you have,” Rintarou points out.

Atsumu’s bottom lip juts out. It almost looks like he’s pouting. Maybe he is. Rintarou tries not to think about it.

He listens to Atsumu say, “I’ve never lost that badly.”

Rintarou hears the, _I didn’t think I’d ever lose that badly._

He takes a leap. Rintarou asks, “Does that have anything to do with why you’re here in Slateport instead of Ever Grande?”

Atsumu’s eyes widen. _Bingo_. Rintarou ignores the erratic beat of his own heart. Instead, he adds, “Did you want me to comfort you?”

Atsumu looks away. Rintarou’s heart is still beating wildly, even with Atsumu’s eyes no longer on him.

“I didn’t—” Atsumu starts, then stops. He runs a hand through his hair. “I wanted ya to tell me to go again.”

Not comfort, then. Encouragement, maybe.

Rintarou is good at neither.

He taps his fingers on Atsumu’s knee—once, twice. He looks at Atsumu. Atsumu looks back, now. “Go again,” Rintarou says. He means it.

Atsumu rolls his eyes. “Ya gotta be more convincing than that, Rin,” he complains.

Rintarou takes another leap. He tells Atsumu, “You’re already convinced.”

“Yeah. Yeah, I am.”

_7._

He watches Atsumu disembark the S.S. Tidal. Just barely named Champion, and _of course,_ the first thing he does is visit Slateport City.

“Champion, huh?” he drawls when Atsumu walks past him, busy looking for something in the distance.

Atsumu startles at his greeting—it’s barely one, but whatever. Rintarou smirks. He guesses he could’ve gone better about it, could’ve maybe started with, “Hey.” Or even, “Congratulations.”

But he’s Suna Rintarou, and this is Miya Atsumu, and Rintarou _did_ promise ages ago that he’d take Atsumu on at the Victory Road. Congratulations mean nothing if he’s still planning to steal the title from Atsumu.

So he settles for, “Champion, huh?”

And promptly gets smacked on the shoulder for that.

“God, Rin. Can’t ya just say hello like a normal person?” Atsumu grouses. Another slap to Rintarou’s upper arm follows. “Or a, ‘Congrats, Atsumu. Well done on becoming the Champion of Hoenn.’”

Rintarou grins, despite himself. It’s all teeth and ambition. “That’s implying one, you’re a normal person and two, you deserve a congratulations. Both not true,” Rintarou teases.

To the side, his Blaziken is tussling with Atsumu’s Sceptile. She snickers and attempts to singe the tips of Sceptile’s leaves. One of them’s going to get hurt sooner or later, so Rintarou beckons her back to his side.

Atsumu’s Sceptile growls at both of them. Rintarou says, “I’m not battling you today.”

Atsumu barks out laughs. They both know Rintarou’s not strong enough to win against Atsumu yet. He calls back his Sceptile, and Rintarou doesn’t know if he wants to praise Atsumu for backing down from a fight or strangle him for it.

“Not today,” Atsumu repeats. It’s strange to see him this agreeable. “C’mon, Rin. I’ll take ya to the shipyard’s restaurant. Champion’s treat.”

He’s grinning now. It’s bright and happy and sharp and menacing all at once.

Then, Atsumu turns on his heels, and Rintarou follows.

_8._

The loss against Champion Miya Atsumu at the end of Victory Road still stings, just a little. Rintarou says, “There should be some kinda rule against going on a date with someone you just lost to.”

“It’s not a date,” Atsumu tells him, not missing a beat.

Maybe Atsumu’s right. This isn’t a date. But Atsumu still hasn’t let go of Rintarou’s hand since he’d help Rintarou off his Salamence, so maybe that counts as something. Maybe those two things aren’t mutually exclusive.

Atsumu squeezes his hand.

Rintarou squeezes back, briefly. “I’m thinking of heading out again,” Rintarou admits. It’s not something that Atsumu needs to know. He finds that it’s something he wants Atsumu to know.

“‘Course you are,” Atsumu says. “Ya haven’t beaten me yet.”

“What, you think I won’t stop doing this until I’ve beaten you?” Rintarou asks. It’s not a question that needs an answer.

Atsumu answers anyway. “Nah, but that’s not what I meant,” he says. “Yer not stoppin’ ‘cause ya haven’t gotten what ya wanted yet.”

“Which is apparently, beating you.”

“No,” Atsumu corrects him. “I mean, maybe that’s part of it, but who knows what ya want? Not me. But ya haven’t gotten there yet. I know that much.”

“You talk too much,” Rintarou says. He tugs on Atsumu’s hand. “Come on, if you’re gonna insist on holding my hand, you can at least come with me get my ticket.”

“For what?”

“The S.S. Tidal. I told you I’m heading out again.”

Atsumu pauses. “So soon?”

Rintarou can’t help it—he grins. “Take me out on a date after I get my ticket,” he says. “I’ll leave Slateport tomorrow.”

Atsumu stares at him. Rintarou’s grin grows. It’s not every day that a person can render Miya Atsumu speechless.

It only lasts a few seconds.

“Hey, Rin,” Atsumu starts. He’s smiling now. “I’ve decided that I’m gonna keep bein’ Champion until you can beat me. Take as long as ya need, ‘cause I’m not goin’ anywhere.”

Rintarou believes him.

_9._

He still hasn’t won against Atsumu when he comes back to Slateport again.

But his Pokédex is about eighty percent complete, he has a solid team that he likes, and he’s won multiple Master Rank contests from his stay in Lilycove City.

It feels a lot like growing up, Rintarou thinks.

He thinks about what Atsumu said before he left. _Who knows what ya want?_ Rintarou didn’t either. Not then.

He thinks he does now.

Maybe.

Atsumu steps into his path when he walks off the pier. Rintarou’s been counting on him to do that.

“You knew I was coming back today,” he says in greeting. It’s not a question.

Atsumu grins. But he pauses, drags his eyes from Rintarou’s face all the way down to his toes, then back again to his face. “Yer different now, Rin,” Atsumu replies, when he finally opens his mouth. It’s not an answer to anything Rintarou asked.

Rintarou shrugs. Maybe Atsumu’s right. He _is_ different.

“And that surprises you?” he asks, this time.

Atsumu takes a step forward. Closes the distance between them. One of his arms loop around Rintarou’s neck. The other holds onto his waist. He buries his head in Atsumu’s shoulder—even if he’s the taller one out of the two of them.

Rintarou feels Atsumu smiling into his hair when he says, “Nah. Not at all.”

He pulls back to look at Rintarou. His hands are still on Rintarou’s neck, on Rintarou’s waist. There’s something fond—something _open_ —in his expression.

“I like that yer different,” Atsumu says.

Rintarou thinks he knows what he wants.

Atsumu beats him to it.

“Hey. Wouldja stay here with me?” His grip is a little tighter on Rintarou’s waist.

It’s an easy question to answer. After all, like this, with Atsumu, Slateport _has_ become home, somehow.

Rintarou smiles. He closes the gap between them again. With his lips a breath away from Atsumu’s, he says, “Yeah. Yeah, of course. I’ll stay.”

**Author's Note:**

> please leave a kudos and/or comment if you enjoyed this fic!
> 
> find me on [twitter](http://twitter.com/ghostbrides).


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